Location-based ads on your Uber's window

Grabb-it Inc. turns rideshare cars into digital billboards. The company installs a small device that transforms a car window into a digital screen, displaying content visible from outside the car. Advertisers get real-time campaign tracking, including campaign reach by location.

- Forcing more ads into people's lives without offering them any choice

Is this the direction we want to go as a society? I personally hate the gas stations that now force you to watch and listen to ads at the pump. But at least I can choose not to go to those gas stations. This forces advertising on everyone without giving them any choice. I know billboards do the same thing, but I don't love billboards either.

Also, this seems like it'll work against removing distractions for drivers.

Some extra money for the drivers, though they don't say how much you can expect.

Cons:

more annoying ads around you

how would like to sit behind ad-display covered window?

Yeah, let's put a screens everywhere. Well, actually don't.

This looks like a good way to make people hate your car and transport service. Before you enter the car you see the ad and after taking a seat in the back you cannot look outside because of the display panel. I wouldn't call this a great user experience.

I loooooove this. We covered startups designed specifically for ride-sharing drivers in the AngelList Weekly last month.
Short term: (Some) happier drivers, neutral riders. Some percentage of hustling drivers will make extra cash by advertising when other drivers on the platform aren't.
Long term: Neutral drivers, happier riders. Prices for fares will drop as a majority of the drivers on the platform start advertising with Grabb-It, Wrapify, Cargo, etc. Riders will pay less because drivers will be able to get paid in other ways (other than direct rider revenue).

@ejameswill In the long run, prices drop when companies compete for business, which Uber and Lyft do every day
They've slashed driver pay to lower rider costs in the past, and they'll do it again. Why wouldn't they want to compete with lower prices for my/your/our business?

@nickabouzeid that is true but saying the prices will go down because drivers will include ads on their cars doesn't drive that unless Uber and Lyft are the ones providing the Ad service. Uber and Lyft have for a long time allowed drivers to make other income from their riders but I wouldn't say that has been a factor in lowering the cost of rides.

@ejameswill Uber and Lyft cannot ban drivers from using these services (and are even partnering with these startups to promote their services to drivers). They'll take any opportunity to pay drivers less.

@nickabouzeid I didn't say anything about the drivers getting banned and yeah you might see Uber and Lyft push these services and try to pay drivers less but I don't think that means that we will see lower fares.

Im not gonna lie, I literally hate this idea. Uber makes Billions in revenue a year and you hire terrible drivers, yet you can't even pay them properly so more ideas like this come out to try and sell us crap we don't want all to the highest advertising bidder. Have you been to Miami beach? Have you watched the steady stream of airplanes ruining your vibes pitching the latest crappy club? It will be the same thing over and over with bad ads but thus time riders get to also pay for it...

Weirdly I've thought a lot about advertising + rideshare. Billboard-like advertising is an obvious solution (similar to what many taxi cabs already do), but I don't know if it's the right solution. While I do think enough incentives are lined up in this scenario, it feels wrong (to me). I hate the idea of further polluting our shared spaces with more ads.
I wonder what's become of the companies who do intra-car advertising (i.e. have ad displays inside the car)? Obviously the number of eyeballs viewing the ad goes way down, but I think this is an opportunity for deeper personalization without being obnoxious. Uber already knows who you are, where you are, where you're going, and the time. Wouldn't it be cool if, say, you're going to a restaurant and you're shown dessert spots nearby with coupons? Or if you're going to a ball game, have vendors offer incentives to visit their stall/restaurant? There's probably a tasteful way to do this.
CRAZY, DUMB THOUGHT:
If we're sticking with the whole external ad thing, what if the rider can choose what type of content to show? Imagine you're in a car with friends on the way to a club, and you're getting hiphy and start playing the new Nicki Minaj song. Would Nicki Minaj be opposed if her music video was playing on the external display. There are so many things problematic with this particular scenario including music rights and age-appropriate content, but you get the idea. Could be kinda fun.